Silver Snow
by TheSixthStar
Summary: "Hn." He gave her his standard one-syllable reply he knew she didn't like. She rolled her eyes and tried, at least, to be annoyed, only to burst out in hearty laughter. Because of her, the 8th Guardian, he had come to love snow. Cold, gentle snow. 18OC
1. Prologue: Arrival of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter One – Prologue**

**The Arrival of the Snow.

* * *

**

The black-haired man's thin jacket was barely enough to keep him warm. It had just started to snow a few days ago. The snow caressed his bare face, numbing each spot it touched – not that he cared, though.

Hibari was back at Namimori High School. Yes – just to check whether anyone had broken into the school during winter. The other Vongola members thought he was just too strict about discipline – not that he cared, though.

The girl's blue orbs rose to look at the familiar scenery – snow. She stuck out her bare hand, and let the snowflakes land on her hand one by one. The single snowflakes did not feel cold against her skin. To her, it simply felt soft and soothing.

_Why am I here?_ The thought struck her. She her left her family in Italy to find the place in which she would truly belong.

She closed her eyes.

Hibari went through his usual route, starting with the school parade square, which was already covered in pure white snow.

A flash of black stood out against the white. Long, black hair to be exact. His eyes fell upon a girl wearing a thin, white dress, standing in the middle of the parade square, her hand extended seemingly reaching out to feel the icy cold snow.

Something made him move forward towards her, his footsteps quiet and slow.

But she had noticed the very sound of those gentle footsteps, her head whipping around.

Sky blue met coal black.

The girl stood absolutely still for a second, the air becoming tense in between the two of them.

And then she did what he never expected her to do – she ran, ran as fast as she could away from him. _Why?_

He found his legs moving, chasing after her, trying to grasp something he didn't understand.

The last glimpse he got of her, was probably an illusion.

Because he saw white wings lined with silver.

**-End of Prologue.

* * *

**

Hello guys! (:

This is a very very very very short prologue of this story I have here. Inspiration just struck me and I decided to write this.

I have a plot in mind, although it's probably still unrefined. I guess I will work on it as it goes. (: Stick around if you want to see the rest of the story unveil!

Okay that's about it. Please R&R!

_(This is a reedited version of the prologue – 1 August 2010.)_


	2. Rush of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Two**

**The Rush of the Snow.**

* * *

**The Future – 10 Years Later**

_(Hibari's POV)_

Hibari found himself in _this_ part of the forest again. His feet, or his mind for that matter, had always brought him to this very spot. He allowed his consciousness to fade…

"_So, what's so special about this place?" She questioned._

"_Nothing much." The adult Hibari said as he lifted his hand, running it through her hair, "it's here that you can actually feel the snow on your skin. Anyway, it's private."_

"_Tsk, I never knew you were _that _kind of person." She smiled cheekily at him._

"_Hn." He gave her his standard reply which he knew she always hated._

"_Whatever." She rolled her eyes and _attempted_, at least, to ignore him. As usual, it was to no avail as she soon burst into hearty laughter as the snow heavily fell upon them, turning the landscape into a pure white haven._

A snowflake landed softly on his extended palm. Cold, but gentle and soft…

* * *

**The Present – Spring**

"I'm going to be late again!" Tsuna stuffed a piece of lightly toasted bread into his mouth quickly, grabbed his bag and began to start on his usual routine of rushing to school.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was your typical school boy, really. If you didn't count the fact that he was the 10th Generation boss of the Vongola family, that is.

"Yo, Tsuna!" "Good morning, Tenth!" Today, the trio were all running late for school, and making a desperate attempt to save their lives – "Thou shalt not be late, or else thou shalt suffer the wrath of Hibari Kyoya." That quote was a humorous joke that was going around Namimori Middle School. If it were to be leaked out to a particular black-haired boy though, things would get ugly.

They eventually made it in time, panting and gasping for breath, even though the _respected _Vongola boss had fallen down more than ten times, they managed to escape the horror of being late.

"Ah, good morning Tsuna-san, Gokudera-san, Yamamoto-san." Kyoko greeted them cheerfully as they entered the classroom. They returned the greeting and took time for leisurely chatting about trivial things, but it was then that Tsuna noticed that there was an unfamiliar face sitting at the corner of the classroom, staring out of the window.

"Is she a transfer student?" Tsuna asked, lowering his voice. Kyoko looked at him with a questioning look. "It's Koba Misaki-san, of course. She's been in our class since the beginning of this year!"

Quick glances at Gokudera's and Yamamoto's unsure faces proved that something was wrong. Koba Misaki-san? It didn't ring a bell at all.

As if the black-haired girl had overheard them, she gave them a quick, cold glance.

* * *

"What's happening?" Tsuna asked them while eating his bento during recess.

"Something's weird. I've asked a few of our classmates, and all of them said that this Misaki-san has always existed in our class." Gokudera twitched in annoyance.

"Yes, something's going on." A _very, very familiar_ child-like voice suddenly sprang out of nowhere, "it looks like their memories had been tampered with."

"Reborn!" Tsuna sighed in exasperation, "but for what reason? And how?"

"Well…" All of them leaned in, in anticipation. "Actually, I don't know either." All of them simultaneously face-palmed. "But it definitely has something to do with this Koba Misaki-san, though, don't worry about it now and focus on your studies, I'll do a quick background check on her."

They nodded. Too many things had happened recently and honestly, they just wanted their lives to be normal for awhile, instead of having the mafia thing disrupting their lives.

* * *

Tsuna and Gokudera walked towards the Sawada residence – they were going to wait for Reborn's information.

Gokudera knew someone was following them. Step, step. Step, step. Step, step, step. Occasionally, their follower carelessly went out of synchronization.

"You! What do you have to do with-" Gokudera spun around and pointed an accusing finger at the follower, but all they saw was a flutter of black-coloured hair, before the 10-year bazooka was slammed into them.

* * *

**The Future – 10 Years Later**

_(Hibari's POV)_

Hibari sighed audibly and started to walk back to his residence, unwillingly – this very spot in the forest held so much sentimental value that he didn't know how to leave. He wanted to laugh at himself, who would ever thought that Vongola's Cloud guardian – a supposedly cold and strong person, would be this torn. Just because of her. That cold and strong mask was _breaking._

All it took was the sound of movement of the snow. He immediately whipped his head over and took out his tonfas, raising them in a defensive position. Everywhere could be dangerous now – the Millefiore dominated the world, therefore the Vongola should be completely destroyed. Simple logic, to _them._

Soon after, a human figure came into sight, slightly disorientated but still alert. Hibari's eyes widened. Just as he remembered it – long, flowing black-hair that matched his.

"Miyuki." He whispered her name.

The snow continued to fall mercilessly onto them.

"… Who are you?" Her clear voice rang out – just as he remembered it, he used to describe her voice as "an angel's gift".

"Hibari Kyoya. Cloud Guardian of Vongola." He replied, walking closer to her slowly. The familiar smell of lavender drifted to him – just as he remembered it, she always had a faint lavender aura around her.

That seemed to ring a bell, as a look of realization dawned on her face. _She was always easy to read,_ he mused, _that was one of her weaknesses in battle._

"I… I see… How do you know my true name?" Miyuki asked, her sky-blue eyes looked deeply into his.

He did not reply her – not now. There was too much to say, too much to explain. She remained silent and tried to read his untellable expression. An unsure and frightened look was worn on her face – he had to resist the temptation to reach over and brush his hand against her face. She was only a few steps away. If he would just reached out… He forced himself to think about the potentially dangerous situation that they were in now. "Do you trust me?" The question was straightforwardly put across to her – there were only two possible answers.

"Yes." She said, her eyes burning with determination, as if she had suddenly won an internal struggle and gained immense confidence. He did not know why – she probably did not understand the situation she was in at all, ten years into the future, where the future is far from "bright" and "exciting". The only words he could think of to describe the situation were "dangerous" and "ominous". Nonetheless, he nodded as he motioned for her to follow him, quietly and quickly. Strauss Moscas were probably going to start patrolling this area soon – it was not safe. If the Millefiore were to find out about Miyuki's existence in this world, she would die for sure. Even he would not be able to save her, possibly not even the Vongola.

She crept along behind him, as they hurried over. There was no time. Judging from the colour of the sky, the Strauss Moscas were going to be here soon – very soon. He turned back frequently to check that she was still there – to make sure that he wasn't in a dream, to make sure that she was real, and to make sure that she was still safe. He couldn't make the same mistake twice – he would not let her get harmed by the Millefiore.

The sound of hurried foodsteps. "Don't move." He commanded stoically as they hid behind a rock, "stay here." He readied his tonfas and swiftly moved towards the place where the footsteps were. He was so fast that normal humans wouldn't even be able to catch sight of him – but neither the Vongola nor the Millefiore were normal humans. They're Mafia, they fight.

* * *

_(Miyuki's POV)_

A clash of steel. The sound echoed throughout the white-blanketed forest. Miyuki took a deep breath apprehensively, but Hibari appeared shortly after, not saying anything, but again motioning for her to follow.

As they walked towards another group of people, she gasped as she saw the two boys that she had been following just now – Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato, and also a blue-haired woman with a cloak wrapped around herself. Her face bore the trace of a scar, though she thought that it was far from ugly, it looked more like two layers of flames wrapped around her cheekbone.

Miyuki didn't recognize her, which she thought was strange as the thorough background checks she did on the Vongola members were supposed to be very accurate. Could she have possibly missed out on some details? It was proving long for her to digest everything that was happening now.

"Lal Mirch." Hibari addressed her formally.

The woman nodded, her face stern and alert, "Let's go."

Gokudera's indignant shouting broke her train of thought, "Wait! She's the mysterious person who followed us, isn't she?" Tsuna looked at Miyuki with a terrified expression.

"Shut up, Gokudera Hayato. Lal Mirch will explain it to you later." Hibari's comment was final, as the whole group moved on briskly again, despite Gokudera's angry mutters behind his back.

* * *

The rough terrain had proved challenging to move quickly on, but all of them weren't in the least bit tired. They had all gone through arduous training that involved both physical and mental aspects, and that had definitely refined them – they wouldn't be alive if it was otherwise.

"Wait." Lal Mirch suddenly stopped. There was something in the distance, moving towards them.

"Shit, the Moscas are here."

"Move faster!" Agitatedly, she broke out into a dash and pulled along the two boys.

But it was too late. The Mosca had sensed their presence through the heat radar, and was making its way towards them with frightening speed. "Lal, take them and go. I don't want herbivores here blocking my way." Hibari's expression hardened.

Miyuki frantically looked at him, but all he did was nod, and then he turned and disappeared. She knew she couldn't help him – not when there was a risk of the other Vongola members finding out about her identity – she wasn't ready to let them know, at least not yet.

"What are you waiting for?! Hurry!" Lal Mirch grabbed her hand as they sped towards the base.

**-End of Chapter Two**

* * *

**Chapter Two – Omake**

**Brainstorming**

* * *

(Forgive me if this is very singlish-y. My English tends to mutate when I'm talking to my friends informally xD.)

Me: "Eh, is Yukime a nice name?"

Friend: "LOL. Your names always revolve around snow (yuki), light (hikari) and princess (hime) one!! "

Me: D:! "Then what name nice leh?"

Friend: "How bout BAKA(stupid)!"

Me: -____________- "Bakahime?!"

Friend: "Sotongu(squid)!"

Me: "Aiya, if liddat Painappuru (pineapple) is the best lah."

Friend: "Bakahimeppuru(stupid princess pineapple)."

Me: ROFL! "HAHAHAHAH."

Friend: *trying to incorporate my name into the OC's name* "Minhime!"

Me: "Eee what kind of name is that LOL."

Friend: "Mini hime!"

Me: "Right… Mini Princess -_-. I dunno what name leh! Mitsuki, Miyako, Mikako, Mina…"

Friend: "Miyuki!"

Me: "Eh actually can leh! X)"

Both: "LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL." *dies of laughter*

Me: *sends file over to friend to keep me read*

Friend: "Eh. The 'Koba' is take from who one?"

Me: "Uh… Kobato."

Friend: "Then where's the 'to'?! LOLLLL."

Me: D: "I don't want to copy the whole thingy lah!"

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Hellos, sorry for not updating for so long. Lack of inspiration + exams + projects + mountain loads of homework = a very sianded sotong. (this means squid, yeah.)

Oh yeah and I guess you guys can call me Mindy or Hikari. (my so called "Japanese name" which I've been using on various websites since I-can't-remember-when.) Or basically anything else you like as long as it's appropriate -.-

Yup and this chapter incorporated a bit of humor, but it'll get serious again when the serious parts come. (: Also, when I don't state the POV (point of view) of which the story is told in, then it just means it's in 3rd person.

Oh gosh you know I think my previous summary of this story sucked. -_- Anyway, no the idea wasn't taken from the new Nitendo game. I thought of it even before the news came out that it was going to be released – believe it or not. Well, talk about inappropriate timing of publishing. Nevermind.

Yeah and anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and YES I know that a lot of things still haven't been explained yet, but I'll explain them soon, probably in the next few chapters. Keep readers in suspense, you know? :D


	3. Everything of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Three**

**Everything of the Snow**

* * *

**The Future – Ten Years Later**

Miyuki nearly collapsed onto the cold, dull grey floor after they had busted through the Vongola bases' doors. Her hand was firmly pressed against the wall, supporting her petite structure, allowing her to catch a few gasps of air.

"What the hell was that?" Gokudera Hayato's yell echoed. Miyuki had already decided she didn't like this man. He was so noisy, irritating and senseless. The profile of Gokudera Hayato that she had received flashed past her mind once again. _Name: Gokudera Hayato; Age: 15; Birthplace: Italy; Characteristics: Easily noticeable, liked by fellow classmates._ She wanted to roll her eyes in disgust. _Liked by fellow classmates?_ If that was the case, then she'd be a goddess who everyone loved.

"Strauss Mosca." Lal Mirch commented bluntly, "Another one of Millefiore's dogs. Those scoundrels just don't have the freaking guts to fight fair." Her opinion of Lal Mirch, however, was undecided. She seemed like a person with great gusto and a hard front, but then again, she'd met many people who were cold and stoic before. That… _Hibari Kyoya_ looked like one of those people too. _You're like that too. _Her inner voice reminded her, but she pushed the thought away.

"Huh? What? Strauss Mosca? Millefiore? What are all those?" Sawada Tsunayoshi's clueless and frightened voice trembled. _Name: Sawada Tsunayoshi; Age: 15; Age: Japan; Characteristics: nicknamed as "Dame-Tsuna" for his clumsiness._ Miyuki wondered if this boy was really fifteen, he looked so scared of the whole world itself like he thought there would never be people who had bad intentions. What would happen if he had—

"Ah, I see that all of you have made it back safely." A high pitched, baby-sounding voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He landed softly on top of a table and his eyes seemed to move around, searching for something.

"Reborn! Why are you here too?" Reborn's appearance only seemed to make Sawada Tsunayoshi even more confused.

Reborn ignored his comment and his gaze flickered to Miyuki herself. He narrowed his eyes and pointed his gun at Miyuki.

Her eyes widened as she backed away cautiously and the cool feeling of the ring on her chest was suddenly made more obvious to her. Miyuki knew that this "baby" was dangerous – the holder of the yellow pacifier, the strongest of the Acrobaleno, Reborn.

Just then, with somehow perfect timing, Hibari Kyoya walked into the base, wiping the blood off of his face with a sleeve nonchalantly. A smirk was worn on his face, however, and he looked like some kind of predator who was very, very satisfied with killing its prey.

"What are you doing?" His cold and stoic mask did not change one bit, but his heightened tone was a warning – Hibari Kyoya was angry, and if that anger was not dealt with properly, he would explode, the members of Vongola knew that.

Reborn was still fixed in his original position, staring intently at Miyuki, watching out for her next move. Miyuki was staring back at him too, tense and nervous. She knew he had found out. Found out about everything.

"I asked you, _what are you doing._" There seemed to be this dark, scary aura emitting from him as he walked closer, deliberately slowly, towards the Acrobaleno.

Sawada Tsunayoshi seemed to crouch in fear with every step the Cloud Guardian took – he knew that it definitely was _not _a joke when Hibari was angry. Past experience had told him better. He shuddered at the thought.

Just at that moment when Hibari Kyoya looked as if he was going to crack, Reborn put down his gun and shot a quick glance to Hibari, "I'll trust you on this, Hibari Kyoya. But if Miyuki Estella De Luca ever makes a suspicious move, I'm afraid I won't be able to cover for her anymore." With that, the "baby" hopped off the table and walked away briskly.

Her nerves were still bundled up tightly after he left, her tense position not relaxing.

"What was that all about?" Gokudera Hayato's haste comment broke the silence once again.

But no one answered, and the next thing Hibari Kyoya did was to grab Miyuki's stiff hand, and drag her along to somewhere else.

Lal Mirch turned to Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato and began, "well then, I guess it's about time I briefed you brats about the _wonderful _situation the Vongola is in right now."

* * *

"Kusakabe." Hibari acknowledged his most trusted acquaintance (after all, Hibari Kyoya was not the one to call people his 'friends').

"Hibari-san. Welcome home." He bowed and greeted the Cloud Guardian respectfully. Then he noticed the blank-faced girl standing behind him. "…Miyu-san? No wait, the younger version of Miyu-san… What's—"

"Not now, Kusakabe." He simply said as he continued leading the girl into a room. He didn't have the time – he had too many questions to ask, and too many questions to answer.

"You." He pointed to her, then towards a cushioned, velvet chair. "Sit."

He took his seat opposite Miyuki. "Why… are you here?"

"I don't know. I was hit by something on the head while I was following Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato and I ended up there in that spot of the forest…"

The ten-year bazooka? But if that was the case, not only Miyuki, but also the other two herbivores should be gone by now. It was only supposed to last for five minutes.

"Hn." He gave his standard reply, at which she seemed to twitch. Hibari was smiling in his heart, even though he wouldn't admit it even if he died. He knew she had always hated his one-syllable replies. It brought back memories – a lot of memories…

"Nee, Hibari-san, how much do you know about me?"

He sighed at that question. All the memories didn't stop flooding into his mind, a silent reminder.

"Everything."

She seemed confused at that answer – after all, how could a person she apparently just met know _everything_ about her? "Then… you know about my identity too?"

He remained silent at that question. He couldn't take it, but he wouldn't let it show either. It had been so long, so long that this person had appeared in front of him. And just when he thought he had "gotten over" her. Oh who was he kidding? He didn't even know if he wanted to laugh, cry or get angry at himself anymore. He wondered how a girl was able to mess his life up so much.

"Miyuki Estella De Luca, I know that you're the eighth Guardian of Snow, I know that you like to be called 'Miyu', that you treasure your middle name because it was given to you by your only sister, and that you hate your last name because everyone discriminates you because of it. I know that you love the feeling of snow on your face, and that you like the smell of sakura. You're really good at art, but you can't do sports at all. You don't like the taste of button mushroom because you think it tastes like coins, and that you have a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on your back… Miyu… I know… _everything._"

And as he said that, Hibari Kyoya stood up and turned to face the crystal black sky. He couldn't look at her now. Because he couldn't, wouldn't let her see his mask _breaking down into nothing_. He cleared his throat and spoke with his back facing a stunned Miyuki, "we should stop here, Kusakabe will bring you to your room. You'll be staying in my quarters. It'll help to protect your identity… at least for now. Goodnight, Miyuki."

* * *

That only left a really confused Miyuki and a clueless Kusakabe walking towards her new room.

"Ne… Miyu-san, my name is Kusakabe, and I'm sort of like Hibari-san's right-hand man. I was really close with you before—ah and yes, why are you here now?" Kusakabe's words sounded truthful, so Miyuki decided to reply him, "I hit by something on the head and came here."

"I see… it was probably the ten-year bazooka then."

"The ten-year bazooka?"

"It causes your present self and the you from ten years later to do a switch – which means that you're currently in the future, ten years later."

Realisation dawned on her. So that's why this world was so confusing. She didn't even know that something like the ten-year bazooka could've existed. So in this world… Hibari Kyoya knew everything about her. What was their relationship? Could the her ten years later have been a part of the Vongola? There were so many questions to ask that she didn't know where to start.

"I suppose you know my true identity too then, Kusakabe-san?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then, onegai, please tell me everything about this world."

Kusakabe-san raised an eyebrow at her, but gave in and began to tell the story of whatever that had happened in the past ten years.

* * *

"…"

Only a dead, scary silence was present after Miyuki had heard of the terrible plight of the world now. What...? The Vongola was almost completely destroyed? That Vongola? Known for being one of the strongest Mafia families in the world? Impossible. "Then, was I a part of Vongola?"

"Yes, yes you were. The Vongola had already recognized you as a part of their family, as the long-lost Snow Guardian of Vongola."

Miyuki frowned at the first sentence of his reply. I was? Did that mean that she had stopped being a guardian of Vongola or something? She was just about to question him again when he started off first, "Well then, oyasuminasai, Miyu-san. Rest well as life in this world is a fast-paced one." He said as they arrived at the end of a corridor.

"Oyasuminasai." She smiled softly. But as she closed the door, she saw Kusakabe mouthing something she couldn't catch.

_Because you're so precious to Hibari that if he loses you again, he'll lose himself._

Well, Hibari was mostly back to his cold, stoic self the next morning.

"You. You're exactly 5 minutes late for breakfast." He gave her a cold, hard stare when she had entered the dining room.

"I'm sorry." She said, her voice cracking slightly from morning sinus again. Her hair was poking out in all the wrong directions and her clothes were messily put on. She look like she'd just been hit by a _truck_.

A vein popped on Hibari's head. "I'm going to give you ten minutes, to go back to your room, wash your face, comb your hair, straighten out your clothes and come back here, neat and proper for a morning breakfast."

Miyuki stared blankly at him. _That was all just a joke, wasn't it?_

"Fifteen minutes… please?"

"_Now."_

Miyuki nodded and scrambled out of the room, nearly tripping over herself in the process.

Somehow, she managed to meet the time limit anyway.

"Now, hurry up and finish your breakfast, we have a busy schedule today." Hibari slid a piece of paper towards her.

Her expression looked as if she had just received a one-hundred-million dollar cheque. Only that in return she'd have to pay two-hundred-million.

_Oh great._

* * *

Hibari watched as Miyuki scattered off to get ready for their next programme for the day: training. _Oh she was going to enjoy this._ A taste of Hibari's personal training, on the second day that she's came to this fateful world.

But he couldn't help but muse at the other side of the usually calm, collected and charming Miyuki. She had a clumsy side too, which he found very entertaining, even though she was always sensible and logical. Always thinking of the consequences of her actions, the impact on which it will cause to herself, but most importantly, her loved ones.

And so, what was he thinking on that day? Why couldn't he have been as sensible as Miyuki? What could have possibly overcome him to make that kind of mistake?

What did I do?

**-End of Chapter Three.**

* * *

**Chapter Three.1 – Omake**

**Everything**

* * *

(**NOTE:** You should note that these things didn't really happen during the story. It's just for my own amusement – and probably yours too.)

"Miyuki Estella De Luca, I know that you're the eighth Guardian of Snow, I know that you like to be called 'Miyu', that you treasure your middle name because it was given to you by your only sister, and that you hate your last name because everyone discriminates you because of it. I know that you love the feeling of snow on your face, and that you like the smell of Sakura. You're really good at art, but you can't do sports at all. You don't like the taste of button mushroom because you think it tastes like coins, and that you have a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on your back… Miyu… I know… _everything._" Hibari paused for a while.

"And so I've always been wondering, why do you like Sakura out of all the types of flowers possible? What about rose, or sunflower, or marigold. Anything is better than Sakura! I really hate Sakura!"

"But I—"

"What do you mean by button mushrooms taste like coins? Have you actually even eaten a coin? Why did you eat it? What's wrong with you!"

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Hello! It's been a longlonglong time since I've updated heehee.

This chapter started from serious, to cute, to sad, then to humourous. Heehee. Honestly, I'm sort of a romance freak so I'm like holding back all the romancey thoughts flying across my mind 'cause if I write them now it'll be too fast. Yes, I know you're waiting for the good romancey parts to come, 'cause I'm waiting for them too T.T

Oh and I really wanna thank omgpink for giving me the advice heehee. It's really constructive and helpful ^^. Well, I hope you can see the changes in this chapter and well, enjoy the chappie! (:

I'll probably include Omakes for each chapter now, which are really very random and written for fun, they might be OOC, Mary-Sue or stuff, but that's what makes Omake's funny LOL. I'll be writing some serious ones also I guess.

Kay, thanks. Remember to R&R darlings! (:


	4. Echo of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Four**

**Echo of the Snow**

* * *

**The Future – Ten Years Later**

"_Three minutes, three minutes, three minutes…_" She chanted as she panicked, rummaging through her wardrobe to find a suitable set of clothes out of all of those that had been carefully chosen for her. She didn't want to think about whether Hibari, or Kusakabe-san, for that matter, would ever know about her body proportions. Would she end up with oversized T-shirts? She pushed away the thought quickly as she saw the time on the clock – five eleven. She had two minutes left – why on earth did they eat breakfast at four thirty in the morning and go to train at such an early time anyway? She found something that she deemed appropriate, for the activity that was taking place next. **5:15: TRAINING.** The word screamed out to her, as if it was a blazing red alarm. She had a feeling that she would be tortured, upon seeing Hibari's expression when he had destroyed the 'Strauss Mosca'. She shoved on her clothes hastily and looked at herself on the wardrobe mirror. Decent enough. She then stuffed the schedule into her pocket and slung a silver, velvet case onto her shoulders carefully. She smiled as she briefly played with the ring hung on her neck loosely with a feminine chain. It was cold to the touch, as usual. She tucked it into her shirt and ran out of the room. Until she realized something – she didn't know _where_ to run to. And then she came to an abrupt stop, almost falling over _again_. She glanced at her schedule and saw the word "Vongola training room, Basement 3". Well, now all she had to do was exit the premises and find the lift to the basement. Then she suddenly understood why she had to go so early – so that they could prevent the worst-case scenario in which any of the other guardians, although highly unlikely, would walk into the training room and see her using her ring, which would expose everything, of course.

She nodded briefly at Kusakabe while she ran out of the premises and into the Vongola base, and walked around, desperately trying to find the lift before she was late. "Oi, kimi. What are you doing up so early?" A deep voice rang out. She flipped her head around to see Lal Mirch, looking at her with a suspecting gaze. "I'm going to train." Miyuki looked at her nervously and hoped that she wouldn't say something on the lines of 'oh okay I'll tag along'. "In that?" Lal Mirch commented on her dressing, but continued without giving her a chance to reply, "Let's go then. I'll bring you to the Vongola training room." _Oh crap._ Miyuki sighed inwardly and hoped that Hibari wouldn't murder her for letting someone else know that she was going to train with him there. Now it would all be ruined.

* * *

"Hibari, I've brought you your new trainee." Lal declared as she entered the training room – which just seemed to be a normal room with four, boring, grey-coloured walls. Hibari raised an eyebrow at the pair, then he simply motioned for Miyuki to move forward towards him. Originally being partially blocked by Lal Mirch, she left the case leaning on the wall and walked briskly towards him. Hibari carried a slightly amused expression as he looked at Miyuki's outfit – although she didn't understand why. Seriously, it was just a skin-tight, sleeveless black T-shirt with black short shorts. Isn't that what a normal person would wear to train?

All the black-haired man did was mutter a barely audible "You wear the same thing as your ten-year-later self would." As he mercilessly took out his tonfas and attacked her, while she was still undefended.

Miyuki nearly screamed, but managed to dodge the attack – even though she _barely _managed to do it. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Yes, why not? It's training – it has to be serious." The words rolled off his tongue as if they were something a sane, logical person would say. Miyuki really thought that he wasn't really feeling sane right now. Hibari didn't give her any more time to rest or to retort as he charged once again, this time with his cloud flames adorning his tonfas. Miyuki gulped and hoped that she would survive this training session.

The corners of Hibari's mouth twitched upwards as he recalled how he and Miyuki used to train together, at almost the same time, way early in the morning before anyone had woken up. Their private 'bonding' time together. Except it was anything but relaxing.

"_I'll bite you to death." Hibari smirked while Miyuki remained seemingly indifferent at his comment. The only reaction he made was to roll her eyes – he knew she was already used to his catchphrase which she said so much. At first, she used to retort. Now, she didn't think much of it. And Hibari was going to make her regret that. "Go get your weapon." He spat._

_Miyuki laughed, her voice still sounding like a thousand bells echoing, amplified by the surrounding walls. She suddenly ran towards the side of the training room and retrieved two very familiar-looking things from her bag which was laid at the side of the door. Tonfas. Hibari looked surprised – which was rare, he never looked surprised. "Well, today I'm going to try something different. Custom-made. I took a picture of yours and asked the Vongola Guild to make it for me." She flashed a wide, teeth-showing smile, antagonizing and provoking him._

_A vein popped on Hibari's head, but he showed no expression and said so softly, it sounded scary and threatening. "You are going to die today."_

"_Try me." Miyuki replied simply as Hibari narrowed his eyes and ran towards her with incredible speed._

"Wait a minute!" Miyuki's cry returned him to his senses. "Isn't my identity supposed to be a secret?" Miyuki whispered in a soft voice, in which only Hibari could hear it. "She already knows." Was the straightforward reply as he continued to charge towards her once again. Miyuki's expression clearly wore the word "why" all over it, but Hibari ignored that and waited for the moment in which she would use her flames. Those flames which only she had possession of in the world. And it came. Her eyes burned with determination as the ring lit up, with a sparkling flame, which was silver and pale blue, depending on which angle you would look at it. Hibari thought it was befitting, though – for white, frosted snow. "Tsubasa." She merely said as a pair of snow white "wings" sprouted on her back, lined with shining silver. Hibari knew better to think that they were really wings – they were made up of snow, which had been reinforced by her snow flames, making them harder and sturdier. The silver was snow mixed with metal – if she managed to glide past you and brush across anywhere on your body, it would leave a gash. An ugly one. She started to fly towards him, only to abruptly change her course – towards Lal Mirch. She took care not to touch the strongheaded woman as she retrieved her weapon. A silver bow, which seemed to grow a coat of ice and snow when she touched it with her bare hand. Intricate designs outlined the bow, but the most striking thing about it was the dragon that adorned it. It carried a strangely gentle expression, but its posture suggested that it could do much more harm, and the ends of the bow had wings – it looked as if the dragon had two pairs of wings, since there were two ends. It was strikingly elegant. "Freeze." Another word was spoken and her dancing flame began to envelop the bow. An arrow, also made up of ice and snow and covered in Deathperation flames, appeared in her hands.

She shot her first arrow. Hibari had completely no trouble avoiding it – he could read her attacks, not only because she was inexperienced and obvious, but also because he knew her moves too well. Hours, days, months and even years of training had allowed him to have a vast knowledge about how Miyuki fought. Now he wouldn't play with her anymore. Since she had finally decided to use her ring, he was going to go serious too. He dashed around her with an impossible speed, and he knew she couldn't keep up with him when she started to fire shots which never hit him at all, they were always a little lag and missed him by just a bit. He was smirking the whole way through as he advanced on her, clashing on her bow with his tonfas. She skipped away and used her wings to levitate herself to seemingly unreachable distance from the ground.

"You have to learn that that won't stop the enemies from trying to attack you." He said as he used the momentum of hopping of a wall to reach her, hitting the side of her shoulder blade. Pain shot through Miyuki's body as the tonfa made contact with her bones, but the sound wasn't a loud 'CRACK', so they both knew that it hadn't broke. Which meant that Hibari would still continue attacking her anyway. He didn't give her any time to react as he flashed out his box weapon and punched his ring into it, an adorable porcupine appearing and landing on his palm. Unfortunately for Miyuki, it wasn't as harmless as it looked. It expanded quickly, causing Miyuki to fly away, thinking that she could easily avoid it. Well, she was wrong. The porcupine was still increasing in size and Miyuki was already reaching the corner, not letting her fly to escape either as it covered the entire height of the room – if she didn't do something, anything, every single ball-sized needle would puncture her body. That would certainly not be a pretty sight. She fired an arrow, which only seemed to make the porcupine squeal, its balloon-shaped needle sphere causing the arrow to bounce off. It was only then that she realized the only part of the porcupine that could be actually penetrated was its body, which was made out of flesh. The elastic material of the sphere rendered all physical attacks useless. But it was too late. Any second now – blood would start to spurt out from everywhere – not like she hadn't experienced it before, but who would actually enjoy the thought of blood gushing out and leaving your body? Oh right, _Hibari Kyoya did._

She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst, but nothing happened. One second. Two seconds. Three… four… Her eyes flitted open and all she saw was Hibari keeping his box weapon and walking towards her. His facial expression was unreadable, save the word 'stoic'. What she _didn't _expect him to was to place his hand on her shoulder, examining whether it was severely injured or not, and checking whether he had stopped his box weapon too late and allowed her to get harmed by any of those deadly needles. "You won't die." He said in a monotone voice, but he gently took her hand in his and strode of the room.

* * *

As Lal heard the door close, she smiled. Hibari Kyoya never hesitated to kill or severely injure someone. _Never._ His only exception was her. Miyuki Estella De Luca. Moreover, he didn't even add the word 'herbivore' to her throughout her stay so far, which was hardly normal as Hibari addressed everyone else, even the 10th Vongola boss, as 'herbivore'. Miyuki, however, was addressed using her name, and she didn't seem to realize the meaning of that. She remembered walking in on them once in the training room, only to find Hibari Kyoya, hovering over the adult Miyuki, who was clutching her head, looking like she was in extreme pain. His expression was _worried_, for goodness sake. His hand was grabbing her hand, and he was asked her repeatedly, "What's wrong, Miyuki? What's wrong?" He looked as if he was going to break down when he saw her in that state. When he trained (more like tortured) Tsuna and Tsuna had bled until he had lost all colour and ability to fight, Hibari didn't even _blink_. Lal knew that Hibari Kyoya only had one weakness. And that was Miyuki Estella De Luca.

* * *

When they had reached the Vongola bases' kitchen, Hibari had taken out a first-aid kid and started to bandage her shoulder.

Miyuki counted the number of times the bandage went round her shoulder… "Here. Your shoulder might dislocate if you do any more rigorous training anymore so we'll have to stop the training sessions."

"But with the state that this world is in right now, I don't think I should—"

"We're stopping." He said, decision final. "Now, go and rest, and don't do anything stupid. I don't want to wait for another week for that shoulder to recover." He put the first-aid kit back into its original position and left the room, with Miyuki looking at his back view slowly grow smaller and smaller.

"Idiot." She muttered under her breath and walked to the door, only to bump into someone else. "Sumimasen." But she looked up and that someone else was someone that looked suspiciously like… Yamamoto Takeshi.

"So, you're the ten year older Yamamoto Takeshi… right?" Miyuki started off.

"…Yes." Was his terrific one-word reply. Miyuki almost hated it has much as she hated Hibari's "Hn"s. "…I don't know what to say, Miyu-chan, I mean, Miyuki-san. I haven't seen you in awhile, and now your ten year younger self is here." Yamamoto said, sighing, but then lifted a hand to ruffle her hair.

Miyuki blushed and smiled sheepishly, "Yamamoto-san, tell me more about—" _Growl._ Miyuki wanted to die just then and there. Could her stomach choose a worse time to let out its cry? She blushed a thousand shades of crimson and coughed loudly.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Then Yamamoto burst out in laughter, his hand clutching his stomach and he ruffled her hair once again – Miyuki was sure that her hair parting had disappeared into nowhere. "You're exactly the same as your future self." He said through fits of laughter. When his laughter died down and he regained his composure, he asked with a grin, "Wanna eat some sushi?" Miyuki's eyes lit up, even though her cheeks were still slightly hot, but nodded enthusiastically – she loved sushi. Yamamoto went to the fridge to choose his ingredients, but then Miyuki spoke, "You don't use button mushrooms for sushi… right?"

Yamamoto gave her a strange look, and seemed as if he was trying to stifle a laugh again. But he shook his head, and she felt relieved that there would be no coin-tasting-like mushrooms in his sushi. That thought suddenly reminded her of Hibari's outburst the previous night.

"_Miyuki Estella De Luca, I know that you're the eighth Guardian of Snow, I know that you like to be called 'Miyu', that you treasure your middle name because it was given to you by your only sister, and that you hate your last name because everyone discriminates you because of it. I know that you love the feeling of snow on your face, and that you like the smell of Sakura. You're really good at art, but you can't do sports at all. You don't like the taste of button mushroom because you think it tastes like coins, and that you have a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on your back… Miyu… I know… everything."_

She really wanted to know how that Hibari Kyoya had found out about all those secrets that she kept safely locked in her heart. _What was Hibari Kyoya's place in her future self's life?_

* * *

"Itakimasu." Miyuki chirped as she started to bite on a piece of raw salmon, cut perfectly and still extremely fresh.

"So, Miyuki-san, you do know the state of Vongola now right?" Yamamoto's voice turned serious at this question, and Miyuki just nodded solemnly, continuing to pick another sushi to consume. "I'm doing my best to train myself and get accustomed to his world. Box weapons and all, everything is unfamiliar, but with a little time, I should be able to at least get a hold of things here and make a stand in front of Millefiore." At the rival families' name, her voice had a spiteful tone. And then she realized – she technically didn't have the right to get angry, because she wasn't officially a part of the Vongola in the present yet, even though her future self had been accepted by them, it didn't mean that she would have the same fate too. Now, they didn't even know her identity… She didn't know when would be the appropriate time to tell them the truth – she was afraid of the possibility. The possibility that they would find out about the hideous past of the Snow Guardian, and reject her. Then she would have to go back to her family in Italy, who would surely abandon her if they found out that the Vongola didn't accept her. If she didn't join the Vongola, she would be an outcast. That was the end that she dreaded the most, because then, she would've nothing to rely on, nothing to live for. _She was scared._

"Miyuki-san, are you alright?" Yamamoto's gently shook her shoulder. Miyuki looked at him and smiled, trying to be convincing, but the look on Yamamoto's face suggested that she wasn't successful in doing so. "Don't be scared, Miyuki-san, the rest of Vongola will be here for you, so you don't have to be scared. Remember that, alright? I guess I'll get going now. I have things to do. Bye bye, Miyuki-san." He looked back and waved at her, the automatic doors of the kitchen closed, and she didn't hear the silent whisper. _Take care of yourself, Miyu-chan._

Miyuki had finished her sumptuous meal and was quickly walking back to the premises of Hibari's quarters. The time was 9:55, which meant that most of the other Vongola members would be waking up soon, and she was absolutely not ready to receive an interrogation from Gokudera Hayato, the noisy freak who didn't know when to stop scowling and shouting. In Miyuki's point of view, he was too loud, and his voice sounded constipated most of the time.

* * *

"Miyuki?" Hibari said as soon as she entered the house, "I told you to come back straight after I left." His tone was a bit higher and louder than usual. Miyuki knew that he was annoyed and sighed, explaining to him, "Gomen, Hibari-san, I got hungry and met Yamamoto-san on the way, so he prepared a meal for me… I'm really sorry."

All Hibari did was to nod and wave a dismissive hand, but he did say something before he went back to working again, "Take care of yourself and rest well."

Hibari sat down in front of his working desk and starting on some paperwork which he had to settle for Vongola – they were trying to round up whoever was left other than the Vongola and the Varia. He glanced at the bento set placed on the far end of the table.

_Guess she didn't need it after all._

-End of Chapter Four.

* * *

**Chapter Four.1 – Omake**

**Obsessive Compulsive Disorder**

* * *

(**NOTE:** You should note that these things didn't really happen during the story. It's just for my own amusement – and probably yours too.)

"…Yes." Was his terrific one-word reply. Miyuki almost hated it has much as she hated Hibari's "Hn"s. "…I don't know what to say, Midget, I mean, Miyuki-san. I haven't seen you in awhile, and now your ten year younger self is here." Yamamoto said, sighing, but then lifted a hand to ruffle her hair.

"YAMAMOTO-SAN." Miyuki almost screamed into his ear, "Firstly, I hate one-word and one-syllable replies. I'm pretty sure your vocabulary does not only consist of one word. Secondly, I'm not a midget. I'm petite, _petite._" She repeated with a deliberately slow pace. "Thirdly, stop messing up my hair! You have no idea how many after-bath conditioners I put on it, and just because of your impulsivity, you mess up my precious hair and waste the time and effort that I've put into maintaining it, you idiot! I wash my hair with three rounds of shampoo and two rounds of conditioner, then apply ten bottles of different conditioners onto it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Yamamoto gulped as the obsessive and compulsive side of Miyuki surfaced again. He knew better than to do anything other than nodding, lest he face the wrath of Miyuki while she was mad. She was really frightening when she was mad.

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Hello darlings, I'm back with Chapter Four, which turned out longer than I expected xP. I always thought that it was hard to type long chapters, but now my chapters are slowly and naturally getting longer, which is a good thing, because I've received comments for other fanfictions that my story was rushed.

Hope you like this chapter, and the Omake too! :D Honestly, what I usually write in my omakes is what I have the temptation to write in the actual story, if not for the fact that it would ruin the whole mood HAHA. I think I'm more of a crackfic writer. Oh well, but I go for the saner plots.

Okay, that's all. Remember to read and review, okay? (: Because, if you don't read, you can't review, and if you don't review, I'll be SAD! Doesn't that make so much sense? :D Hahah k, enjoy the chappie! (:

[EDIT] WAIT! Hello hehe here are my KHR blogskins: 1 www(DOT)blogskins(DOT)com/info/337698 2 www(DOT)blogskins(DOT)com/info/337522 3 www(DOT)blogskins(DOT)com/info/338786 4 www(DOT)blogskins(DOT)com/info/339236 5 www(DOT)blogskins(DOT)com/info/341794 Please look at them and comment when you have time okay! ^^ [/EDIT]


	5. Memories of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Five**

**Memories of the Snow**

* * *

**The Future – Ten Years Later**

Feeling bored and frustrated that she would not be able to do anything straining, which technically meant that she couldn't do anything but stay in Hibari's quarters for the next few days, Miyuki unwillingly trudged back to her temporary room. Not that she hated the room – it was more than she had expected, after all, she just had met Hibari Kyoya. Well, at least her ten-year younger self had. She entered her room and glanced around, noticing only then that she hadn't really observed the room properly since the first day, which was only yesterday, that she had stayed in it – probably due to the fact that Hibari's time limits were usually unreasonably restricting, and she knew that she definitely wouldn't want to be late for whatever he had planned. The worst case scenarios flickered through her head and she shuddered.

Wouldn't do any harm to start appreciating the place she was going to live in for awhile, since she actually _had_ the time, would it? The room was larger than the one she had previously lived in at her home back in Italy, the four walls were painted a beautiful shade of sky blue, and seemed to match her very own eyes. Her four-poster bed, which was located in the far corner in the right, had two silk, pure white coated pillows and a blue quilt which matched the colour of the walls. The walls had carefully framed pictures of small-sized animals such as hummingbirds, rabbits and baby turtles, placed at regular intervals. Close to her bed was a black study table, with a lamp and a container full of different stationeries. There was a small, red velvet sofa in the opposite side of the room, with a few multi-colored bean bags beside it and clear, glass coffee table in front of it. There was a small pile of books stacked neatly on top of the coffee table. The black, antique-looking cupboard which was nearly stuffed to the brim with clothes was in another corner. She started to wonder if Hibari Kyoya had ever lived with someone else before. After all, his quarters had a relatively large number of rooms, which all seemed to be unoccupied. This room, however, was well-decorated and looked as if it was well-maintained even when she got here. It was definitely not specially prepared for her since there would've been no time to do so – which meant that someone had lived here before. A relative, perhaps? She decided that there was no purpose in continuing to pursue the manner since she doubted the black-haired man would reply her if she asked, so she dropped the subject and allowed herself to fall freely onto the bed. Thud.

Her mind started wandering off to other distant things… And the first thing that entered her thoughts was her life before the Vongola. She missed them, her dog, those few friends who had stuck through all the tough times together with her since she was young… her family? No, not her family. _Not her family._ **NOT THOSE PATHETIC EXCUSES OF A FAMILY.**

_Betrayed. Anguish. Outcast._

"_You don't belong here." Her so-called family that she had cared so much about, loved so much with all her heart and soul, destroyed all her hopes and dreams with just one sentence._

"_But I—" She tried, tried desperately to find something to save herself, tried to find some excuse to stay behind, tried to pretend that she still had a place in their hearts._

"_We, the De Luca, as a small family, had nurtured you regardless of your status, but not because of this, Estella. Not because of this. We nurtured you in hope that you would become someone who was good enough to take over the family and expand our influence, making our presence known among the others. But you disappointed us. We painstakingly spent time and effort to try to match each type of flame to your abilities, but none of them yielded results. You failed, just like your sister you are no longer of use to us, Estella, one of your father's wives would be able to give birth to another heir. You are hereby an outcast to the De Luca family." That was all it took for her heart to shatter into a million pieces. She felt numb as she was thrown out of the family's mansion, and out onto the roads, to fend for herself. The only thing left caring for was finding her sister, who was "missing". Only then did Miyuki know that Megumi hadn't just been "missing". She had been banished. What a cruel fate. She laughed at herself then, laughed at herself, and at her family. Her mother had been killed by the De Luca, her sister banished and now her. She didn't do anything to deserve that. She didn't. She obeyed the rules, respected the elders, but got nothing in return. Just a pile of uncaring shit._

_From then onwards, she lived by doing odd jobs, which only served to provide enough for her to merely survive. She just didn't care, she didn't feel anymore – her sole wish was to be reunited with her sister once more. But she received a package she would've never expected she would ever have gotten – a package with the Vongola's Snow Guardian ring safely wrapped in a metal box, with a note slotted into it reading: Forget your pain, find a new family. That was the only glimmer of hope her life could've had, her only chance of reliving her life._

_And so she took it._

Subconsciously, she found that tears were already streaming down her cheeks, an uncomfortable feeling in her throat threatening to explode, to wail and mourn over her loss. It had all resurfaced. The thorns that were encaging, surrounding and suffocating her heart so badly that sometimes she felt like she couldn't breathe – they were resurfacing. She didn't lie to herself – she knew what she was yearning for. A family who could accept her for who she was even if she was labeled as an outcast. A family who could know her past and not mind about it, who could love her regardless of any mistakes or wrongdoings. But she didn't realize how much she yearned for someone, just someone to say that they would be there for her. Because of this fear, she couldn't confess anything to the Vongola members even though most of them were already here… not knowing about her status at all. She was afraid to lose this place which she thought she could finally call "home". Fear. It was such a simple, but impactful emotion. "Damn it." A cry escaped her lips. She thought that she would be able to push those thoughts away – to forget. But she didn't forgive, and she knew that her heart was still weeping – it had always been weeping. "Damn it!"

In the next moment, all she felt was two warm, strong arms enveloping her in a tight, comfortable embrace. Her head rested on a firm shoulder as reassuring hands stroked her head in a constant motion, a silent comfort, that that alone was more than she could ever have asked for. Miyuki didn't see who it was – she couldn't, because the tears were blurring her vision. The tears wouldn't stop, the pain in her heart was overbearing. She felt herself quickly breaking even in his strong grasp. "I'll be by your side forever." Six words. Those six words were the things that she had never thought she'd be able to hear. The knot that had been firmly tied in her heart seemed as if it had come loose in that very moment. The thorns were falling apart slowly, painfully, _but they_ _were actually disappearing, freeing her torn heart_. "And that's something that will never change, Miyu." And then she burst out once again, crying even more harshly this time. The feelings that had been bottled up for years were being released. Not completely gone, it would leave a scar, but in time, even the most unforgettable, most painful, most heart-wrenching scars would heal. "Arigatou." She managed to mutter between sobs, her voice muffled by Hibari's soft, cotton shirt. That was the only word that she could use to summarize what she felt – the gratitude, the relief, the freedom… She pressed herself against his chest and cried her heart out.

"_Watashi wa ikitsuzukeru."_

* * *

Hibari Kyoya entered the room holding another plate of food – he remembered that Miyuki had always gotten hungrily very easily, and then refuse to admit that she was until her stomach growled – and then he would be very, very amused.

But what he saw was Miyuki in that heartbreaking state.

_The ten-year-older Miyuki looked as if she had collapsed on the floor, her face buried in her hands, but the incessant sobbing was obvious – her whole body was jerking and shivering._

_Hibari panicked. He panicked, for goodness sake. Because in those three years that he had known her, he had never seen Miyuki in that state – she had always been carefully guarded, even if it wasn't obvious. The only time he had seen her defences down was when she told him about her trying to find her sister, and even then she only looked as if she was going to break, with her eyes red and threatening to allow the tears to brim over. But she used a smile to cover her feelings and blinked the tears way. He didn't probe – he knew better. But this… the Miyuki in this state looked so fragile. _

_And without a second thought, he wrapped his hands around her and assured her that he was not going to leave, not going to betray her. And he watched as she released years and years of pain and sorrow which had been kept inside her. Following that, she told him her story, between gasps of breath and hiccupping. He listened carefully as she did so, and afterwards swore that he wasn't going to let her cry over that again – never._

So this time, he was determined to keep his vow. He did the exact same thing, the exact same way and watched as she cried. He meant it when he said that – he would always be by her side, and that was one thing that would never change. He knew that at this moment, his mask had already broken – even if it was just for awhile, even if it would appear once again. But he didn't care, because her mask had broken too. He was just going to make sure that her heart didn't break before her mask did.

He would give another chance for her heart to be redeemed. He would give her another reason to live for.

_Anata no tame ni, nani mo yatteru._

* * *

Hibari lifted the quilt and draped it over her, and he observed her sleeping form for a few seconds, making sure that she was already alright. Feeling weary, she had fallen asleep the previous time after her big outburst too. Then the corners of his lips turned upwards, as he glanced at the table and made sure that the bento was already there when she woke up.

He knew she wouldn't need him to be right beside her when she woke up, because Miyuki was a strong person. But even strong people had their limits.

Just like he did too. His limit had been crossed – just once, but now he had found it again – that one precious thing that he wasn't going to let go of, the only thing that had ever mattered to him more than his own life.

* * *

Miyuki exited Hibari's quarters with a determined expression in her gaze. She was heading towards Sawada Tsunayoshi's room with her treasured bow, which was cased to prevent suspicion, slung over her shoulder – she had decided that she would start her confession about her identity starting with him, as the Vongola's 10th Generation boss. She gave the ring hanging loosely over her neck a light touch, feeling the coolness of it. It had become a habit – not necessarily a bad one, though. Knock. She patiently stood outside the door and waited.

"Ah… Konnichiwa." The brown-haired boy smiled sheepishly as he opened the door, looking a bit surprised to see Miyuki going to visit him. "Konnichiwa. Sawada Tsunayoshi-san, I have something to discuss with you." She decided that if she was going to gain acceptance from the Vongola family, she should probably started respecting the boss even though she thought that he didn't really deserve it. "Sou desu ka? You can come in then, dozo." He said as he invited her in.

"Sawada-san, are you curious to know about my identity?" Miyuki started off the conversation easily, the rhetorical question rolling off her tongue.

"Eeh? …Yes, I suppose." He answered anyway, stammering a little bit.

"Sawada-san… what if I told you Vongola had an eighth Guardian?"

"But—that's not possible. No one has even spoken of that before." He looked slightly confused as he looked at her with a questioning expression.

Miyuki took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, barely managing to whisper, "but Sawada-san, I'm the eighth Guardian, the Guardian of Snow."

It seemed to take awhile before the information could be digested. Tsuna's eyes widened, his face carried an unbelieving expression. "About that… that's impossible, isn't it?"

Miyuki shook her head and continued, "If you don't believe me, I can show you." Her hand reached for her ring and she tucked it out of her shirt, lighting it immediately and allowing him to see its unique, bluish white, and sometimes silver flame. "It's the snow flame." She carefully watched him, looking confident, straight into his eyes. He still didn't trust her. She felt slightly sad at that thought – was she really that hard to accept, then?

She retrieved her bow, holding it with her working hand and decided to activate both her bow and her wings at the same time. "Tsubasa, Freeze." Wings sprouted on her back once again, the silver glinting, reflecting the light from the room off of it. Her bow was surrounded by the pretty, sparkling Snow flame and an arrow formed in the other hand, but she could only clasp it loosely, not daring to exert too much strength.

"That's…that's—"

"Oi, Tsuna, you're already thirty minutes late for training with Lal Mirch, what are you do—" Reborn's eyes narrowed as she looked at the situation they were in. "Teme—! What're you doing with Juudaime?" Gokudera's scowl completely ruined the tense mood they were in.

"Miyuki Estella De Luca, I told you I would give you one chance because Hibari Kyoya seemed to place immense trust in you. It seems that you have lost that chance. I should've known. The 1st Generation Snow Guardian wasn't better in any way." He lifted his gun and aimed it straight for her head. Miyuki stared at him blankly, unable to do anything with only one usable arm.

"But I wasn't—"

"Reborn, you knew who she was?" Tsuna looked at his tutor with an accusing expression.

"Of course I did. I just decided not to tell you." The Acrobaleno did not even bother to turn to look at him as he said that, he just glared at Miyuki in silence.

"Reborn! How could there possibly be a Snow Guardian?" Gokudera shot him an angry glare, but stopped when Reborn spoke again, "There was. The Snow Guardian was supposed to be sealed, banished for eternity after the 1st Generation, because of an unfortunate incident which almost cost Vongola its downfall. The existence of the Snow Guardian was completely erased, and everything concerning Isabella Costa was well kept a secret… Until now." The air seemed to be floating with a threatening aura. No one breathed a word. "I _will _summarize it, Tsuna, and everyone present here, listen carefully and place your judgments upon her. The 1st Generation Snow Guardian had betrayed the Vongola. She betrayed the Vongola by being an internal spy for the Giordano family, she had gotten into an affair with the boss of that family and was seemingly willing to sacrifice her own family for the man she loved. This caused a huge uproar in Primo's family, but they were allowed to take no action at all… Because Primo couldn't bear to hurt Isabella, he couldn't bear to hurt one of his own family, especially his Guardians, _but the main reason was because Isabella was Primo's fiancée_."

Clank. Miyuki's bow slipped off her shaking hands and her arrow dissolved into the air. The flame on her necklace was extinguished – she had lost her focus. She didn't know a thing about the past of the Snow Guardian. She nervously glanced at Tsuna, looking if he showed any signs of anger, but there was nothing on his face – it was blank. Miyuki had lost all confidence upon hearing Reborn's announcement. She had too much to handle, too much to confess – already her horrible past, and now this? What were the chances?

Reborn sighed and hopped of the table, passing a sheet of paper to every single person in the room, including Miyuki herself. Her grip tightened, crushing and crumpling the paper in her hands. It was her background information, which included her past – her sister and her being born as illegal children, being born out of an _affair_. Her mother being murdered, her sister being banished, then subsequently her being banished out of her family because she wasn't compatible with any type of flame.

"Miyuki Estella De Luca, ask yourself, and even you will admit that _you don't belong here._" Reborn finally said.

_No._ _**No, no, no, no, no.**_ _Not those words, please. Not those words._ Tears started to form in her eyes, again. Damn it, how much she hated herself. She hated herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. She had no reason to be such a crybaby. "I'm sor—"

"I vote for her to be accepted into this family." Everyone whipped their heads over to the Vongola's Cloud Guardian leaning casually on the door, looking at Miyuki straight in the eyes with what could be mistaken as a hard stare, but it contained something deeper than that. _Stay_ _strong._

"Hibari—! Out of all times, you decide to only appear now you bastard." Gokudera glared at him.

Hibari seemed completely unfazed by this and looked nonchalantly at Reborn. "I vote to _accept _her." He said again, his voice showed no hints of hesitation.

Gokudera rolled his eyes and spoke next, "I vote to reject her. I see no need in having a liar in our midst." But it wasn't her fault – she didn't lie, it was the 1st Generation Snow Guardian who did. She was only afraid, she had kept quiet, but she didn't _lie_. Miyuki had to admit she felt a pang in her heart as he said that, but she decided that she didn't like the constipated Storm Guardian anyway. _Stay strong_, she reminded herself.

The adult Yamamoto walked in from his position directly outside the door where he was silently listening, "I vote to accept her. Give her a chance, won't you? She didn't do anything wrong. All of us have ugly parts of our pasts, you know that."

"I vote to accept her." Another deep voice resounded. Lal Mirch walked into the room with a challenging expression. "I have seen how this woman plays her part in Vongola. She is trustworthy and loyal – different from the 1st Generation Snow Guardian."

All gazes were directed at Tsuna, because they knew that the decision of the Boss mattered more than anything else. "I…" He paused for a while, seemingly deep in thought. Then he looked up at Miyuki, observing her, maybe with his hyper intuition. She didn't know – she just hoped he wouldn't notice the subtle shivering of her lips and her tightly clenched hands. "I vote to accept you, Miyuki Estella De Luca-san. Welcome to the Vongola."

-End of Chapter Five

* * *

**Chapter Five.1 – Omake**

**Meat buns and Other Nonsense**

* * *

(**NOTE:** You should note that these things didn't really happen during the story. It's just for my own amusement – and probably yours too.)

Subconsciously, she found that tears were already streaming down her cheeks, an uncomfortable feeling in her throat threatening to explode, to wail and mourn over her loss. It had all resurfaced. The thorns that were encaging, surrounding and suffocating her heart so badly that sometimes she felt like she couldn't breathe – they were resurfacing. She didn't lie to herself – she knew what she was yearning for. A family who could accept her for who she was even if she was labeled as an outcast. A family who could know her past and not mind about it, who could love her regardless of any mistakes or wrongdoings. But she didn't realize how much she yearned for someone, just someone to say that they would be there for her. Because of this fear, she couldn't confess anything to the Vongola members even though most of them were already here… not knowing about her status at all. She was afraid to lose this place which she thought she could finally call "home". Fear. It was such a simple, but impactful emotion. "Damn it." A cry escaped her lips. She thought that she would be able to push those thoughts away – to forget. But she didn't forgive, and she knew that her heart was still weeping – it had always been weeping. "Damn it!"

In the next moment, all she felt was two warm, strong arms enveloping her in a tight, comfortable embrace. She opened her blurry eyes only to see Giannini, with his ridiculously fat and round head and body, staring at her with a maniac smile – she freaked out and screamed. "What the hell! Are you a pervert or something?"

"Ehh…? Sorry I was too hungry and I thought you were a meat bun." He scratched his too-round head and gave a sheepish, stalker smile.

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Hello again, darlings.

Yes the past behind the Snow Guardian has finally been revealed LOL, though not into detail yet (: A bit of Miyuki's horrible (?) past has also been revealed, so I guess the story's getting clearer now?

I realized I've written about such an emo chapter LOL. And then you read the Omake and you decide that I'm actually quite insane after all, (which I am -.-) coz Giannini's appearance was just so anti-climax HAHA. I bet no one expected that. But yeah I felt very emotional writing the first part :'(

And you know what, I checked this story's traffic.

**1,125 hits, 548 visitors, 6 favourites and 15 alerts. **And I have 12 reviews. So, WHERE ARE THE OTHER 536 PEOPLE! D: Y'know, I will be super super super duper motivated if each one of you took a few minutes to leave a review for me. Yes, do you understand the feelings of an author? T.T Reviews = feedback = love&motivation. :D

Anyway, two of my friends and I have made a joint fanfiction account named **xf-acEPal.M**, and we have another KHR story posted up entitled "**Poofed!**", so please go take a look and review when you're free okay! It's another OC story. :P You can get the link to that joint account at my profile page (:

Kay, that's all, remember to read & review, because if you don't read you can't review and if you don't review I'll be sad! D: (and lose the motivation to write.)


	6. Acceptance of the Snow

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Six**

**Acceptance of the Snow  


* * *

**

**The Future – Ten Years Later**

All gazes were directed at Tsuna, because they knew that the decision of the Boss mattered more than anything else. "I…" He paused for a while, seemingly deep in thought. Then he looked up at Miyuki, observing her, maybe with his hyper intuition. She didn't know – she just hoped he wouldn't notice the subtle shivering of her lips and her tightly clenched hands. "I vote to accept you, Miyuki Estella De Luca-san. Welcome to the Vongola."

The room remained completely silent then, but Sawada Tsunayoshi's words were echoing in her head, loudly and clearly.

_I vote to accept you, Miyuki Estella De Luca-san._

Acceptance.

_Welcome to the Vongola._

Family.

Tears streamed down her face, trailing the side of her jaw as a loud cry escaped her lips, breaking the still silence. But this wasn't a cry of agony, it wasn't a cry of betrayal – it was a cry of victory. Everything she had dreamed of having was right there in front of her. _Everything._

"Miyuki. Stop crying and face your new family confidently and proudly." Hibari's straightforward, but gentle word of advice seemed to nudge her, towards her new future with the Vongola.

Sawada Tsunayoshi – her new Boss, reached his hand out towards her, a warm, inviting smile worn on his face. Miyuki took his hand with her trembling fingers and pulled herself up, her good arm then wrapping around the boy. "Thank you, Tsuna." Her Boss, originally shocked, loosened his stiff hands and patted her back reassuringly and announced to everyone in the room once again, "Miyuki-san, we welcome you into the Vongola family."

Claps drifted across the room: Yamamoto was wearing a silly grin on his face, Lal Mirch was gazing at her with a trusting expression, Gokudera looked frustrated (and constipated, as usual), but remained silent, Reborn shot her a cautious look… and at the corner of her eye, Hibari was still leaning against the door, but his reassuring and comforting eyes were on her – almost tenderly, but a tint of hardness concealed that fact. Miyuki knew – she didn't know why, but she knew. And she knew that Hibari Kyoya had been consistently helping her, subtly, quietly, pretending as if he didn't care less.

_Arigatou, Hibari.

* * *

_

Miyuki stood in the middle of the training room, taking in a deep breath and readying herself. All the people that were present in the Vongola base were standing at the sidelines, they would be intently watching her, silently assessing her abilities and skills.

"_That doesn't mean you can enter the Vongola family without showing us what you are capable of doing in combat." Reborn's solemn tone had broken the gradually lifting mood in the room – well, at least for Miyuki._

_But she looked at him straight in the eyes, carried a confident and trusting expression._

"_I _will _show you what I can do."_

She briefly glanced around the room. Targets had been randomly placed all over the walls of the room – roughly about 200 of them.

"You have 1 minute to hit all of them, and at least in the 2nd ring of the target. After all, for someone who's going to be in the Vongola, such a simple task wouldn't be a problem, would it?" Reborn's tone carried a hint of sarcasm and mocking.

Completely unfazed, Miyuki nodded sternly and readied herself for the battle. She mentally corrected him, however, because she wasn't _"going to be in the Vongola"_, she was already _"in the Vongola." _

"Freeze." She completely skipped the command "Tsubasa" – which meant she intended to hit all 200 odd of the targets exactly in the middle under 1 minute, while staying on one, single spot. Not that big a feat, actually, it was a far cry from moving things. And by moving things she meant the enemy, who would be doing more than moving – they would be disappearing, reappearing, attacking and never stopping. Which all the more motivated her to settle this quickly. Dancing, sparkling silvery blue and white flame enveloped her sleek metal bow, tightly clutched in her hands as an ice arrow appeared in the other.

"That's impossible. She's probably too weak to even fight against a chicken." Gokudera snorted, once again annoyingly in his constipated voice.

But it was then that Miyuki began to fire – and once she started, she wouldn't – couldn't stop until she had hit all of the targets down. The ice arrows moved so quickly in all directions possible it looked as if snow was falling down – only that the "snow" was going up instead of down. Each arrow squarely hit the target in the middle, as if it had been as easy as counting from one to three. Enforced by her snow flames, the arrows sliced right through each targets, and almost half through the wall. It wasn't only dexterity and agility she was aiming for – she was also aiming for strength, just enough strength to pierce through an enemy and confirm his/her swift death. Her eyes were simply darted throughout the room, spotting each target effortlessly and hitting it within half a millisecond, sometimes even too fast for a regular human eye to catch. Not that the Vongola was "regular" though, they were far from that – they were Mafia. She was intimidating when she was determined on something – and this time, it was to prove herself worthy of becoming the Snow Guardian of Vongola. The corners of her lips turned upwards as she released the arrow which hit the last remaining target, which she deliberately released faster, quicker and stronger. It completely went through the wall – that was good for her, but bad for Giannini. He would just have to patch it up again.

"48 seconds… Sasuga Miyu-chan desu ne. You're as good as your ten-year later self was." Yamamoto flashed a wide, teeth-showing smile at her.

"That's far from the end, Miyuki Estella De Luca. Gokudera?"

"Hai?" The silver-haired boy answered immediately, and slightly _too _eagerly.

"Fight her."

"Eeh? Reborn? They don't have to do this. I don't want to see my Guardians fight."

"Shut up, Dametsuna. This is simply a test to see how strong Miyuki Estella De Luca is." _If not, the traitor would be better off dead._ Miyuki swore she could hear those unspoken words.

"I'm ready as ever." Gokudera wore a smug grin on his face, his voice arrogant and confident.

"Tsubasa." As soon as the word escaped from her lips, she disappeared and reappeared behind the boy. "Sistema C.A.I." Shields shaped like targets surrounded him and blocked an arrow which would've otherwise hit the most vulnerable area in his spinal cord. "That kind of cheap trick wouldn't work on me, you scum."

She rolled her eyes as she fired another ten ice-blue arrows, which were counted with his flaming red bullets. "You talk too much. Fight."

"Flame arrow!" Miyuki dodged it easily, and corrected him, "it looks more than a bullet than an arrow. _This_ is an arrow." An arrow flashed past his face and grazed it slightly. A trail of warm blood trickled down his face. He narrowed his eyes at her and manipulated his shields to defend himself at most of his vital points while he fired. Only he forgot that he left his back completely open, again.

"Blizzard." Her flames danced brighter and grew larger, until she released a huge, burning arrow that hit the ceiling once again, causing blocks of cement to come crashing down. "Is that all you've got?" He scoffed.

"Blizzards don't only destroy infrastructure, you know. _They take away lives too_." The arrow that had went through the ceiling changed its course, breaking into countless thin, sharp and deadly pieces of snow-flamed ice, charging towards him. The Blizzard arrow breaks into exactly one thousand, eight hundred and ninety dangerous shards of flame-enveloped ice which would attack the enemy from all directions, _leaving them with no escape._

"X-burner." Tsuna's deep voice seemed to echo throughout the room.

"That's enough. Reborn, do _not _ever put two of my guardians against each other ever again." The dust and rubble slowly cleared, as the Tsuna in Hyper-will Dying Mode came into sight. Well the ceiling was completely another thing – there was a huge crater which left the ceiling mostly non-existent. And considering how easy it was for their base to be spotted now, there was no time to be wasted – they were exposed.

"Giannini, go take care of the matter at once."

"Yes boss." The round-shaped man scurried off quickly.

_The Snow Guardian, the one who stands unmoved even in the strongest of hailstorms, protecting the family and freezing enemies in deadly fear._

That was her role now. It was sealed in that very letter, in that tiny font beneath those words that changed her life. _Forget your pain, find a new family._

She caught a glimpse of Hibari silently leaving the room, with probably no one other than her noticing his absence.

Reborn cleared his throat loudly. "Well, Miyuki Estella De Luca, I hereby acknowledge you as a member of the Vongola family – but don't mistake it for accepting you. You're still far from that."

But all Miyuki did was to turn her back to face him and softly whisper, "I'll prove you wrong, Reborn-san."

* * *

"Hibari-san?" Miyuki knocked on his door gently. She was greeted by a seemingly expressionless face once again, but his eyes seemed to search hers for any remnants of depression. She knew. "Thank you." She smiled and took his hand into both of her soft, petite hands, her fingers quietly tracing a scar.

Hibari glanced at her, but neither made a move to withdraw his hand nor indicate any signs of being uncomfortable. Then Miyuki continued, "for everything that you've done. For your constant support and reassurance, even if it's in the most subtle and indirect way possible, for your chidings, even though they might sound harsh. But most of all… thank you for finding me, and accepting me as _me_. That's more than I can ever ask for, and I know you know that." Without another word, she let his hand drop to his sides as she left the room.

"Miyuki." He called out behind her. "I would be willing to do everything all over again, if it was for you." His voice carrying so much emotion, so much sadness and longing that Miyuki almost wondered if this was the Hibari Kyoya she knew. But she didn't question it – there had to be a soft side under that cold, stoic mask of his. And she found it.

"Hibari." She sighed as she turned back once again, her hands connecting with his once again. "So tell me, will you? Tell me, what we once were. Tell me how we met, how we came to know each other, how you learned every small little thing about me. Tell me… how we fell in love." She knew now – they had been lovers, she could tell from the tingle of her thumping heart when he spoke, from the way he looked at her so endearingly, so different from the way he looked at others.

He looked at her then, his eyes gazing into the very depths of her soul, and let out a long, loose sigh. "Miyu." His hands tightened around hers. "You have no idea about how you're driving me crazy just simply because of your presence."

A moment of silence. She looked intently at him.

His hands found their way around her waist, pressing her gently against his chest as he buried his face in her long black hair. He felt her hands too, slowly winding around his waist, locking them in an intimate embrace. They just stood there, contempt, his hands absent-mindedly tracing patterns on her back.

"I love the way you roll your eyes every single time I give you a one-syllable reply. I love the way you smile at me when we're together. I love the way you used to whisper sweet nothings into my ear. I love the way you grimace when you see button mushrooms on the table. I love the way you lean yourself against me and talk to me when you're upset… Miyu, I _love_ you."

"But that's precisely why I can't tell you. I can't answer your questions, I can't erase your doubt, I can't let you know the whole truth. And I won't ask for your forgiveness because—"

"I do. I forgive you. I know you have your reasons for not telling me everything, and I understand. Because now, just having _you _by my side is enough. Just knowing that you love me, that you think of me, that you care about me, that's enough. Hibari, I don't understand myself, I don't understand this feeling, this pull of my heart that I can't explain, but I know, and I believe, that we will always be there for each other. _And that is one thing that will never change._ " Tears began to inexplicably flood her eyes once again. She was such a fool, falling in love with this man she had only known for a week, but felt as if they had been soul mates for years. Falling so hopelessly into this love even though she knew that they had to be separated one day. But she couldn't help it, couldn't resist it. She loved him. She loved him with all her heart.

And so the distant cloud and the icy snow fell in love.

* * *

"I've called all of you here for an important meeting because there has been some updates on the malfunction of the ten-year bazooka." Reborn announced once they were all gathered in the meeting room.

He continued, "Giannini has managed to obtain information about why you were able to remain in the future for such a long time. It seems that the time exchange of the bazooka has been changed. Previously, the bazooka was in the "equivalent exchange" mode, which technically means that the time spent in the future will be equivalent to the time passed in the past. For example, since the ten-year bazooka only warps someone into the future for 5 minutes in the present, only 5 minutes can be spent in the future."

He paused to take a breath. "However, the time exchange that you experienced during this journey, had been somehow changed to the "unbalanced exchange mode", which means that the time spent in the future is either more or less than the time passed in the past. And in this case, 5 minutes passed in the past is directly proportionate to 5 days passed in the future."

Miyuki froze. Didn't that mean that they only had less than 24 hours left to spend in the future? Didn't that mean that they had to return to the life filled with danger?

She was really a fool. She had indulged herself in the moment's joy of getting the things she had been hoping for for such a long time, of being accepted in the family, of finding someone who had really loved her for simply being herself.

_Because didn't that mean that she had to let go of this relationship?_

-End of Chapter Six

* * *

**Chapter Six.1 – Omake**

**Advertising Goes Haywire**

(**NOTE:** You should note that these things didn't really happen during the story. It's just for my own amusement – and probably yours too.)

"Blizzard." Her flames danced brighter and grew larger, until she released a huge, burning arrow that hit the ceiling once again, causing blocks of cement to come crashing down. "Is that all you've got?" He scoffed.

"Blizzards don't only destroy infrastructure, you know…"

"They act as reusable air conditioners too! Wide range of temperature included! Lowest at -100 degrees celcius and highest at 10 degrees celcius. Come and get some cooling and refreshing Blizzards at $10 per round now! While stocks available!"

* * *

**Definitions:**

Sasuga (-) desu ne: As expected of (someone)

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Hello everyone! :D

Okay now that I'm back, firstly I want to thank all the reviewers who took the time to give me some comments, 'cause they really cheered me up! I love you guys (': Secondly, I wanna thank my awesome twinnie Xuerong for giving me lots of ideas and inspiration, and also for proofreading all my chapters! I love you too!

Next is on to explaining my long absence. As written on my profile, it's due to the examination period and also like a mountain of projects and homework. I'm really sorry for the long break T_T I had to resist the temptation to update this fanfiction and do my projects 'cause I wanna put my studies as the priority! thank you for bearing with me (:

The story traffic right now: **2,040 hits, 11 favourites and 20 alerts.** **20 reviews** so far, which means I got 8 reviews for my last chapter! That really makes me very happy as an author, you know :D. I would like to say once again that I will be super super super duper motivated if each one of you took a few minutes to leave a review for me. Reviews = feedback = love&motivation! (:

Okay, and on this chapter, it's slightly shorter than the previous chapters, forgive me, but I think it had a lot of content. I finally got into the romance, and I hope you guys don't think it's too rushed. (: I enjoyed writing the romance very much. Also, I think I screwed up the fighting scenes 'cause I'm really bad at writing them, so if you have any feedback or ideas on how I can improve please state it in a nice way in your review okay! ^^

Also, I've edited the prologue a little to make it a little more professional, and I'll be adding in like translations for the Japanese words/phrases I use for each chapter!

Yeah I guess that's all, please remember to read & reviewbecause if you don't read you can't review and if you don't review I'll be sad! D: (and lose the motivation to write.)

(Next chapter will probably be coming in around 2 weeks time :D)


	7. I: Beloved Both

**`Silver Snow**

**Chapter Seven**

**I: Beloved Both

* * *

**

**The Future – Ten Years Later**

Countless well wishes and motivational words were passed within the family, the last moments of their time together slowly ticking away.

Miyuki glanced at Hibari with a soft smile, masking the ebbing sadness and pain.

_That night, they met again._

_They sat side by side in silence in Miyuki's room, looking at the calming view of the lake in contrast with their chaotic emotions. Her raging heart was threatening to explode in a burst of emotions so strong she found it so hard just keeping them in._

"_I won't forget you." She finally said, letting out a sigh and allowing her head to gently rest on his shoulder._

"_Hn."_

_And somehow, she didn't retort, didn't scold him for his one-syllable habit that usually irritated her. She was contented with that, contented with simply being by his side for the last night that she would be able to see him. Because it was these little things that caused her to fall in love with him._

"_You know, I wish the younger you would be more sociable, because that will solve all the problems, wouldn't it?" She chided him playfully._

_He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "There's nothing I can do about that, baka. You're just going to have to find a way to make me fall in love with you all over again." A smirk was playing on his lips._

"_Oh? Are you sure that it wouldn't be the other way round?" Her fingers entwined with his._

_He simply glanced at her dismissively and began to carry her in princess style, walking out of her room. "So… would you like to tell me where you're kidnapping me to now?"_

"_I'm _kidnapping_ you to my _room_."_

"_Tsk, I never knew you were _that_ kind of person."_

_He ignored her comment as usual and placed her on the ground. "Cover your eyes." He instructed._

"_And let you do _what _to me?"_

_But he had already gone to the other end of the room, reaching into his wardrobe. She closed her eyes and waited._

_Shortly after, something soft was placed in her hands. …Fur? Her fingers traced the outline of the object, trying to make out what it was. _

"_Can I open my eyes now?" She said, trying to take a peek at the object only to feel his cold hands covering her eyes gently._

"_Hn…"_

"_Please?"_

_He sighed, giving in and studying her expression as she took in the sight of the _objects_._

_She looked down, using her hair to mask her face._

"_Miyuki." He asked, a tinge of concern surfacing. It was only with her that he could let his guard down this much, to completely take of his mask as if it wasn't ever there. She was the only one who had managed to break this mask of his, this mask which took years to build._

"_And I promised myself I wouldn't cry today, you idiot." She pressed them against her cheek. Because it was so, so sweet. She couldn't stop herself from crying when she looked at the two rabbit soft toys, both pure, snow white in colour. One was adorning a tiny, silk purple ribbon on its right ear and holding two silly-looking tonfas, and the other was adorning a blue ribbon, flimsy wings and a miniature bow. "How.. Why?"_

"_Hmph, you made them yourself, and gave them silly names like 'Miyuchi' and 'Hibachi'. Giving Miyuchi to me before a major battle which you couldn't attend because of your injuries, you told me 'please remember that I'm always by your side no matter what.' And so that gave me power and motivation. Because I promised you that I would never leave your side._

_Now, I'm giving this one to you, Miyuki. Because you will always be in my heart."_

_She nodded, tears still streaming down her face, as he pushed her head against his firm chest, her fists tightly clutching the fabric of his shirt._

"_I'll miss you."_

Her hand reached into her bag and squeezed the rabbit tightly. _What am I thinking?_ _I had promised him, hadn't I? I had promised everyone that I was going to put in her best effort for the family. _

And so I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight to win this war, to restore my family, to build a future. Then, I'll come back, I'll come back as a stronger person who would be worthy of being a member of this family. So wait for me, please. Wait for me to come back.

Her eyes were full of resolution as she looked at her family one last time confidently. "We will come back victorious, and protect everyone in the family."

_They're Mafia, they fight.

* * *

_

**The Present**

"We don't have the time to linger around in the present. Find all the other members and we'll meet at the Namimori Shrine with the ten-year bazooka tomorrow. Miyuki-san, we haven't officially introduced you to the rest of the Vongola members in the present yet so would you mind waiting at somewhere you'd feel comfortable at for now…?"

"I'm fine. Please go ahead." She sent him a reassuring smile. That meant that she only had one place she could go to – the place she had rented near Namimori Middle. That empty, quiet place where no one else was. She felt herself already missing the warmth from Hibari and Kusakabe, but she had to live with it – the Hibari here wasn't the Hibari she had gotten close with step by step. She had to start anew, but that was okay, wasn't it? He would still be the Hibari she knew.

…Wouldn't he?

That thought alone, sparked an irresistible pull towards the place where she knew she would be able to find the Hibari Kyoya of the present – Namimori Middle School.

She effortlessly jumped over the fence of the school and dashed up the stairs. He'd be at the rooftop, wouldn't he? She would just take a little peek, that was all, just to see and remind herself how Hibari looked like in the present. Slowly opening the door to the rooftop, she glanced through the gap cautiously.

And there he was, lying on the rooftop with Hibird flying close by, as if he had no other care in the world. A relaxed expression was worn on his face – his eyes were closed, his lips pulled into a straight, soft line, and his hair lightly brushing past the corners of his face, along with the wind. Still so hopelessly careless when he was alone. _And when he while he was with you, Miyuki._ A memory whispered out to her, beckoning her to move closer. Her heart, full of reminiscence, seemed to remember this feeling, as it started to pull her, towards this man whom she knew, and yet was so unfamiliar with. Oh, the irony – that she had to fall in love with the him in the future before she even knew him in the past. A carefree laugh escaped her lips. _I miss you_. His lush eyelashes intricately overlapped each other, slightly damp from the tears of his eyes.

* * *

Lost in her thoughts as she absent-mindedly opened the door to her lonely apartment, her heart nearly jumped out at the loud voice that echoed in the room.

". YOU'RE FINALLY HOME, MIYUKI ESTELLA DE LUCA!" A blur of long, silver hair clouded her vision.

"Shishishi, we waited a reeeeeeally long time for you, princess." Wait, was that a tiara? Did he even have eyes?

"Ahhh~ Mi. Yu. Ta. N. I never thought you would be such a beautiful young girl." That was a fashion disaster.

Wait. Just wait a second. What on earth was going on? Calm down, reason things out. There's no reason to be so panicked, right? After all, **THERE WERE JUST SEVEN PEOPLE SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HAVING A PARTY IN HER KITCHEN.**

"Trash, keep your volume down." Gangster?

"Boss, I'm so very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Do you need anything? I'll get it for you." Huh?

"Oi, I'm missing an important client and an opportunity to earn a huge amount of money while sitting here, mind you." Acrobaleno…?

"… EVERYBODY, SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN _MY_ APARTMENT, EATING _MY _FOOD, SITTING ON _MY _FURNITURE?"

"Miyu-tan, don't be so colddd~ After all, from records, you sound like a really nice girl underneath that strong façade of yours." The gay guy smiled freakishly at her.

She had just experienced an emotional ordeal, returned to the present after experiencing such a horrible and bleak future, and now these hooligans were crowding around in her kitchen. What was the world even coming to?

Oh no, no, no. This was all too much for her to handle.

"VOIIIIIIIIII. TRASH, STOP CROWDING AROUND HER BEFORE WE EVEN EXPLAIN TO HER THE SITUATION."

"Shishishi, princess, don't worry we'll treat you reeeeeal nice. Just go take a nap for the time being…" And that was all that was said before a hard blow was dealt to her head.

* * *

"Oh dear~ Miyu-tan's still not waking up. I told you to be gentle on her, didn't I? Now look what you've done!" Miyuki felt her head spinning like a tornado as her vision and hearing slowly came back to her.

"VOIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I COULDN'T HELP IT, WE NEEDED TO GET THINGS DONE FAST."

All at once, a surge of pain seemed to shoot through her head as her hands unconsciously clutched her head, letting out a moan. "The princess' awake." The self-proclaimed Prince grinned widely.

"What the…?" was the first thing she managed to murmur as she got up, causing the condition of her spinning head to exacerbate. She briefly glanced at the surroundings and realised she was in a lavish room with her head gently rested on a velvet cushion. The walls were painted with a pretty opal colour and seemed to sparkle in the brilliant light emitted from the chandeliers.

"VOIIIIII. We didn't mean to crack your skull, Miyuki. 'was no other freaking way to do a clean job. Hime wanted us to—"

"Hold on a minute. Firstly, who are you, where am I, and why the heck did you bring— No, scratch that, _kidnap_ me here?" Miyuki looked at them with accusing eyes, demanding answers.

"Well we had no choice to. Since that bakahime looked so hopeful when we mentioned that we thought we had finally found you. She rarely even asks for anything because she feels so damn guilty for even being here." A seemingly affectionate tone leaked into the mysterious, cloaked acrobaleno's tone as she appeared nonchalant.

Just then, another distant voice echoed throughout the room.

"Minna, what's going on? I mean, you guys are always noisy but today is a particularly…" The girl at the hallway stopped at the sight of the one person who in the middle of the room – Miyuki. She stared at her, stunned, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "Estella."

* * *

It had taken a moment for it to settle in.

"_Estella."_

She knew that voice. That gentle, quiet voice that guided her through her first years during the difficult period that consisted of the same routine everyday – classes, trainings, drills. Because she had been through it too, and she understood.

How could she _not_ recognise it?

The voice she came to love, the voice she came to miss, the voice she yearned to hear after such a long time.

But what a scourge of Fate would cause her beloved sister to end up in this state? Miyako was just sitting there, confined to a wheelchair. Even the long, brown hair that Miyuki had adored had been stained by the effects of some misplaced disease, tainting it a sickly silver. The faces of the strangers around her tensed and pain infected their originally jovial, teasing expression.

"O..onee-chan! I missed you." She whispered before her feet swept off the couch and dashed towards her sister, hugging each other tightly as though they had never seen in years. In this case, that was precisely the reason why. Sky blue eyes met sky blue eyes, their collision so beautiful, so pure. The tears couldn't stop streaming down the contours of her face as she asked her, "what happened?"

"Hey, it's nothing, Estella. It's just a disease the doctors never had heard of – it's not life threatening, it just restricts my mobility. And I've got a new hair colour, a change from my usually hazel hair, isn't it?" Miyako stroked Miyuki's hair reassuringly, her kind smile radiating warmth and comforting her. That was just like the Miyako she knew – always the silent one who gave support behind the scenes and was always comforting others even though she might be in a predicament that was against all odds. "You're still beautiful. You will always be, Onee-chan. Please tell me what happened, right from that day which we were separated from each other. I was always looking for you, even though they insisted that you were 'missing'. I wanted to see you again, so badly."

"I will tell you, Miyuki. I promise I will – but will you be willing to wait until I'm ready to do so? I know it's hard on you, I know that you have to know, but I just need a little bit of time, to set my thoughts straight and prepare my heart for this long, painful journey." Miyako's tone seemed to be concealing something much more major then she could express right now. And then Miyuki realised, that it was just like the expression she wore when she thought about her past, the horrible memories that clouded her mind. But she had Hibari there to save her, to comfort her, and she wondered if her sister had someone who could do that for her.

Because if not, then she would. Even if it meant abandoning her hard-earned position in her new family. She couldn't just leave her closest kin, her sister alone in the lurch. She had to help her.

She understood the importance of having someone beside you when you faced the tormenting flashbacks of when you were mistreated, when you were so desperate all you wanted to was to hurry up and die. She was sure that Miyako had experienced similar events after their separation. They were both outcasts of the De Luca family.

"Yes, I will."

-End of Chapter Seven

* * *

**Chapter Seven.1 – Omake**

**Advertising Goes Haywire – Part II

* * *

**

Lost in her thoughts as she absent-mindedly opened the door to her lonely apartment, her heart nearly jumped out at the loud voice that echoed in the room.

". YOU'RE FINALLY HOME, MIYUKI ESTELLA DE LUCA!" A blur of long, silver hair clouded her vision.

"Shishishi, we waited a reeeeeeally long time for you, princess." Wait, was that a tiara? Did he even have eyes?

"Ahhh~ Mi. Yu. Ta. N. I never thought you would be such a beautiful young girl." That was a fashion disaster.

Wait. Just wait a second. What on earth was going on? Calm down, reason things out. There's no reason to be so panicked, right? After all, **THERE WERE JUST SEVEN PEOPLE SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HAVING A PARTY IN HER KITCHEN.**

"Trash, keep your volume down." Gangster?

"Boss, I'm so very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Do you need anything? I'll get it for you." Huh?

"Oi, I'm missing an important client and an opportunity to earn a huge amount of money while sitting here, mind you." Acrobaleno…?

"… EVERYBODY, SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN _MY_ APARTMENT, EATING _MY _FOOD, SITTING ON _MY _FURNITURE?"

"Well, nothin' much, all we're doing is…"

"TASTING THE NEW PIZZA HUT CHEEEEZY PIZZA. It has 7 types of different cheeses, which are sure to make your mouth water as you see them. Quickly grab your phones and order now! Call 62353535~ Pizza Hut delivery!"

* * *

**Definitions:**

Bakahime: Stupid princess, an affectionate term

* * *

**Author's Note.**

HELLO MY DARLING READERS!

Now I would have to apologise again for my super long break due to a bombardment of exams and projects ): I really feel very guilty and I hope that I will be able to update more frequently now. My exams just ended today so I'm feeling really high and cheerful now (: So honestly it was kinda hard to write this emo chapter.

Actually, I have started writing this chapter quite a long time ago, but subsequently got stuck at multiple places and never really managed to decide on a direction that this fanfiction is going towards. And I finally decided on one. Like seriously, finally. Sigh, and I have no idea whether you guys will like it, so please tell me what you think in your reviews! Honestly, I don't really know how the fanfiction is going to continue developing in the future, but I'll see it as it goes. I mean, that's the way I've done things so far. It would be nice if you could suggest some ideas too. I have a rough gage of what I'm going to do but it's still kinda unrefined.

Story traffic right now: **2,979 hits, 16 favourites and 20 alerts. 30 reviews** so far. This really really encourages me, guys. I got 10 reviews since the publishing of my latest chapter! I FEEL SO TOUCHED (': 'coz I will be super super super duper motivated if each one of you took a few minutes to leave a review for me. Reviews = feedback = love&motivation! (: AGAIN! OH YES I REALLY LOVE YOU GUYS T_T

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I'll leave it as it is so I can brainstorm on how to continueee 8D Oh and this chapter marks the start of a new arc! The present arc (okay not really) I don't know what to call it but I'll be using roman numerals to mark it this time. I will probably be separating the story into a few parts, into "arcs".

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this chapter! :D

Please remember to read & reviewbecause if you don't read you can't review and if you don't review I'll be sad! D: (and lose the motivation to write.)


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